GROWING YOUR BUSINESS: Show you care – Support your local organizations

by Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

There is nothing more beneficial than donating to local organizations. From churches and synagogues to Little League and Girl and Boy scouts to local school,there is no better way to spend your money than to support local groups.

This is true for all communities but especially true for small communities, like we have here in Maine. Here are some things to consider when someone comes knocking at your door for a charitable contributions:

• You have the opportunity to portray your company favorably to everyone in that organization. They will be grateful for helping them and will not only patronize your business but will urge others to as well.
• If the donation is for an event such as an auction, donate a gift certificate for your product or service. If you own a restaurant, for example, and you donate a $50 gift certificate, chances are the person who buys the gift certificate will bring others for dinner at your place bringing you more business. If you are a landscaping business, and you donate a gift certificate for your services, you just paid $50 for a new customer, which is a very good deal since the average cost of new customer acquisition is up around $500.
• If you get the opportunity to sponsor a team. Grab it. That is a gift that keeps on giving and giving. Those athletes are actually a walking billboard for your company. And every member of the athlete’s family will love you for it.
• It’s the right thing to do if you want to be accepted as a stellar member of the community. And since the community is made up of your customers, that’s a good thing.

True story:

Last Christmas my wife sent me on a search for ribbon candy. I’m not sure why, but she did. She also told me what store to go to first because when she was collecting donations for our church’s silent auction that store had been very generous. So, I went to that store as she told me, because I always do what my wife tells me to do. And I ended up buying not only her ribbon candy but assorted other sundries like chocolates and other goodies as well. I spent over $75. When the owner, like all smart owners should do, asked me how I found out about his store, I told him that my wife had told me about it. And then as a member of the finance committee of our church I thanked him for his generosity. Upon hearing that he smiled broadly and said, “No, thank you! And your church for all you do for our community.”

And that is how business in a small town (or any town for that matter) should work. That store owner knew that donating to a local church charity was absolutely the right way to grow his business.